Visions and Transcendence - update Jan11

Monday, 17 January, 2011

Sue Wallace, former leader at Visions, became Team Vicar at Leeds Parish Church in September 2010. She now has particular responsibilities involving liturgy, arts and music across the Parish of Leeds City.

The plan for Transcendence involves the multi-media Eucharist being held at various venues, including Leeds, York, Ripon, Beverley and Doncaster. Visions now has a shared leadership system and discussions are now underway as to future leadership style and structure. It is still continuing though not quite as elaborately as previously.

Visions@4 services, held at St Cuthbert's, York, are billed as family friendly and they are moderately successful. Evening services are not as well attended but different approaches are now being taken in a bid to attract newcomers. Adults currently attending Visions are in the 20s-50s age range.

Visions has also been involved in a couple of wider community events, including Illuminating York in collaboration with All Saints, York St. A discussion day in February 2011 - led by Bishop Graham Cray as leader of the Fresh Expressions team - aims to refocus Visions on what the group is called to do, what they already have and where they should go from here.

Launched nearly 20 years ago, Visions is now in a transition period in trying to discern 'Are we in the right place?' and 'Are we doing the right thing?' There has been some confusion about the respective roles of Transcendence and Visions but Transcendence is now developing a life of its own and Visions is a major contributor to that. Transcendence continues to attract 100 to 200 to its services.

Visions hosts a midweek meeting on Wednesdays. These are sometimes social in style and sometimes focused more heavily on prayer.